Bam! Fireworks exploded above my head in bright colors as my Mining level ticked up to 80. w00t! I yelled, and with the completion of my goal, I thought about what to do next. A boss tour came to mind, but I knew I wasn't good enough yet. Well, I was, but I just didn't feel like it. Maybe do some farm, or some fishing and cooking. All too boring, I decided. What I needed was a challenge, something hard, yet not frustrating. After giving it some thought, I decided to try the Living Rock Caverns. I had never been there, and I had heard good things about it. So l bought a Fally teletab and cracked it. In the square, a man came up to me. He had full 3rd age range on, except he had a hood that I can only describe as a Bryll hood from Dungeoneering. Strange, as I thought those couldn't be taken out. "It's real." He said, almost reading my mind. "I found the plants deep underground. If you're going to the Living Rock, I'm coming with you." "O-kay?" I said, putting on a quizzical expression. This guy was starting to creep me out. He equipped a crossbow that seemed to be made out of onyx. Man, this guy was RICH. I was starting to heat up inside from jealousy. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he also had an Herblore skillcape, which is my personal favorite. Grrrr. I wanted to kill him, but he was a full 10 combat levels higher than me. In other words, he was maxed out in combat at least. We walked up to the entrance of the Dwarven Mine on Ice mountain without saying much. Finally, at the bottom of the ladder, he said, "You forgot your pickaxe. Bring some food too. And a better weapon. You'll need them." And as I was climbing up the ladder, I could tell he was going to say something else, but apparently it was unimportant, because he held it back. I came back down the ladder after getting my stuff and he was still there. As I walked to the other ladder and started to climb down, with my internal stove still set on high, he shouted down, "I'm Blue Crab." "And hello to you too, Blue Crab. It's soooo nice to see you." I muttered sarcastically. "I heard that!" I heard his voice echo down the shaft. (AUTHORS NOTE: If your Runescape username happens to be Blue Crab, or any of the other names mentioned in ANY of the chapters, this is NOT you.) As I climbed down the long shaft, I started to wonder what the heck I was doing. I just invited a stranger that I known for 5 minutes onto a Living Rock trip. What was wrong with me?!?!?!?!?!? Anyway, I got to the bottom and waited for him to come down. When he got there, we scattered in search of a concentrated coal rock to mine. At least, I did, but Blue Crab went for a concentrated gold one. I mined for a while, banked 6 times, when I spotted a rock no one was mining. Like a moth to a light, I ran to it. I hit it with my pickaxe a couple times, not mining anything, when it collapsed. Hurrah, I thought sarcastically. I leaned in for a closer look, just to assure that there was no ore there, when I spotted a dent in the rubble. I shifted some of the rocks, and they tumbled down somewhere. It was a tunnel. The tunnel looked pretty normal, except that it seemed to radiate evil. "Blue Crab?" I called out nervously, and I almost slapped myself for sounding so needy. I didn't need his help, he was just here for the ride. He came over, with his pickaxe (also made of onyx) resting against his leg. "Wha-oh, that." He said, pointing the top of his pickaxe at the tunnel. Then, much to my surprise, he said, "You want to go in?" "Anything to get away from these stupid creatures." I said, fighting one as I spoke. When I killed it, He clambered into the tunnel, and I followed. As we crawled throught the tunnel, occasionally contorting our bodies to one side to avoid a sharp rock, I felt the long hours spent getting my Agility to 80 paying off. After squeezing around a fifth rock, and about ten minutes of crawling, I started to think that this was a bad idea. Finally, I saw a light (yes, a light) and I climbed out into... ...the light of some bioluminescent plants. Squinting the the oddly bright light, I saw some chiseled lettering in the ganite wall in front of us: Guthix be false, for man makes balance with its own hands. Saradomin be false, for man can be wise on its own. And Zamorak be false, for man makes chaos with its own hands. I read it, then read it again, and I could see when I looked over at Blue Crab that he was doing the same. I looked in the other direction, and jumped when I saw a skeleton about 6 feet away from me. Blue Crab looked over, and said (again), "Wha-oh, that." Then, hastily changing the subject, he said, 'There's a doorway over there. Let's go."